a few things...

Mon Nov 10 22:36:47 UTC 2008

I have seen that too. I wonder if there is another factor involved ...  
ASL seems to have a stronger use of fingerspelling compared to other  
countries. In the countries that I visited, they avoided  
fingerspelling as much as possible. If a new important name or concept  
came their way, they figured out a sign for it. People might have some  
disagreements about what the sign should be, but they would agree that  
they needed a sign and eventually find one they liked.

My observations have been that, in the US, it seems that ASL rules say  
that anything "new" should be fingerspelled until there is at least  
regional consent on a sign. Some sign names might have regional  
consensus, but those are not considered standard ASL until it has more  
national consensus. I could be wrong. I haven't noticed anyone in my  
area use a namesign for Obama or McCain. Bush probably would not have  
gotten a namesign since his name only has 4 letters.

I saw this 
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  for Bill Clinton, and this 
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  for Ronald Reagan, but I don't know if they are "final"  
namesigns. :)  (If you can't see the graphics, just look at Clinton  
and Reagan in the US SignPuddle.)

Stuart

On Nov 10, 2008, at 16:02 , Adam Frost wrote:

> I had to step back for a minute a realize where this was coming from  
> because I was just having a discussion with another group about this  
> same topic. I am trying to figure out how to tell you what the  
> discussion on the TeachASL list was without sounding harsh, so bear  
> with me. ;-)
>
> First, lets take a look at name signs as they are used and giving in  
> the US in ASL. A name sign is only used when talking about a person  
> that has importance in the Deaf community that is not present.  
> Therefore, a name sign is not just given to anyone (this also  
> includes people who are in the Deaf community) and given with great  
> care. This is especially the case when you are dealing with a name  
> sign on a national level. You may be able to find local examples  
> that don't follow this, but that will not happen nationally. These  
> local example are usually "in house" discussions of a particular  
> person that goes into great length, so ad hoc name signs are created  
> so that fingerspelling doesn't have to be done over and over for  
> those people who don't like fingerspelling.
>
> Having said that, unless our president elect has done something that  
> has cause for the Deaf community to not only talk about him in great  
> length, but also has made a great impact on the community, there  
> will never be a "final" name sign for him. All of these ad hoc name  
> signs will disappear as soon as the discussion of him disappear. Of  
> course, the only other way for this to be different would be for the  
> Deaf community to become very involved in politics overnight. And I  
> mean every member of the community, not just a few.
>
> If you look back at all of the past US presidents, only Lincoln and  
> Washington have name signs. Some say that is because Washington is  
> the founding father and Lincoln was the president during the civil  
> war that brought the nation back together. Lincoln has his name sign  
> because he was the president that made it possible for Gallaudet  
> University. I feel that Washington is a rare ad hoc name sign by  
> back translation from the state Washington and capital Washington  
> DC. It is only because there is a state that has a sign as well as  
> the same name as the president that the ad hoc name sign is used  
> nationally. (That and that his name is very important in US history  
> so every school has to talk about him a lot.)
>
> Now, I know that it could be said that Barack Obama is a great  
> impact because he is the first African American to be elected. True,  
> but that doesn't impact the Deaf community, so that is why he hasn't  
> received a name sign. So I hope that answers your question of there  
> being a final name sign for him. And I hope that I haven't sounded  
> harsh, but it is a little pet peeve that I have so it is hard not to  
> seem angry even though I am not. :-)
>
> Adam
>
> On Nov 10, 2008, at 11:58 AM, Peter DeHaas wrote:
>>
>> Did anyone ever come up with a final sign name for our new  
>> president elect???
>>
>> Best,
>>
>> Peter DeHaas
>>
>>
>>
>>
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